Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

When you look at how we purchase today, many times we slide the card ourselves or pass it in front of a pay pass or equal equipment and no one sees the card. In fact other than my drug store I slide my card virtually 100% of the time myself. Many good points in this post. Chip and Pin will supposedly make us more secure. Hmm....

Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

Yes, it does say that if the card is "NOT" signed, then they must ask for identification. But this is the rest of the process according to the Mastercard Merchant agreement.

804.2.1 Unsigned Cards

If a card is presented to a Merchant and is not signed, the merchant must:

1. Obtain an authorization from the issuer,

2. Ask the Cardholder to provide identification (but not record the Carholder Identification Information) and,

3. Require the Cardholder to sign the card.

The Merchant must NOT complete the transaction if the cardholder refuses to sign the card.

To me, this is pretty cut and dry as to why people sign the back of their cards.

In total agreement!

AND...contrary to what was stated before about "most people don't sign"...I think that's incorrect, for the very reason above. The vast majority of Americans, who don't frequent message boards and forums about credit, follow the T&C of their credit cards, and sign the cards. It's like any other law or rule that affects MOST Americans. MOST of us abide by the rule/regulation/law.

While checking card security features, you should also make sure that the cardis signed . An unsigned card is considered invalid and should not be accepted . Ifa customer gives you an unsigned card, the following steps must be taken:

• Check the cardholder’s ID . Ask the cardholder for some form of officialgovernment identification, such as a driver’s license or passport . Wherepermissible by law, the ID serial number and expiration date should bewritten on the sales receipt before you complete the transaction

.• Ask the customer to sign the card . The card should be signed within your fullview, and the signature checked against the customer’s signature on the ID .A refusal to sign means the card is still invalid and cannot be accepted . Askthe customer for another signed Visa card .

• Compare the signature on the card to the signature on the ID .The words “Not Valid Without Signature” appear above, below, or beside the signature panel onall Visa cards

.“See ID” Some customers write “See ID” or “Ask for ID” in the signature panel, thinkingthat this is a deterrent against fraud or forgery; that is, if their signature is not onthe card, a fraudster will not be able to forge it . In reality, criminals often don’ttake the time to practice signatures . They use cards as quickly as possible after atheft and prior to the accounts being blocked . They are actually counting on younot to look at the back of the card and compare signatures; they may even haveaccess to counterfeit identification with a signature in their own handwriting .In this situation, follow recommended steps listed above under Unsigned Cards

Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

When should you ask a cardholder for an official government ID? Although Visarules do not preclude merchants from asking for cardholder ID except in thespecific circumstances discussed in this guide, merchants cannot make an IDa condition of acceptance . Therefore, merchants cannot as part of their regularcard acceptance procedures refuse to complete a purchase transaction becausea cardholder refuses to provide ID . It is important that merchants understandthat the requesting of a cardholder ID does not change the merchant’s liabilityfor chargebacks . However, it can slow down a sale and annoy the customer . Insome cases, it may even deter the use of the Visa card and result in the loss ofa potential sale . Visa believes merchants should not ask for ID as part of theirregular card acceptance procedures . Laws in several countries also make itillegal for merchants to write a cardholder’s personal information, such as anaddress or phone number, on a sales receipt .If you are suspicious about the transaction or feel you need additionalinformation to ensure the identity of the cardholder, make a Code 10 call

Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

The signature is the most important thing. The same way as when you are at the closing table buying real estate property for example. You may present your ID and that is fine but if you don't sign that contract you are not going to close on that deal.

So again, I don't understand why it's so hard to sign the card and abide by the agreement ?

Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

Personally I'm surprised they even bother with signatures anymore. No one ever checks them and instead ask for ID which is a violation of their merchant agreement.

In fact I recently got multiple notifications from my Australian bank that signatures are being phased out and very soon all Australian credit cards will be chip and PIN only (following most European countries who have been this way for a while).

As always the US will lag behind but signatures haven't been relevant for quite a while. My CSP is chip and signature with no PIN functionality coming any time soon which is a shame.

Re: Why do people sign the back of their CC?

Personally I'm surprised they even bother with signatures anymore. No one ever checks them and instead ask for ID which is a violation of their merchant agreement.

In fact I recently got multiple notifications from my Australian bank that signatures are being phased out and very soon all Australian credit cards will be chip and PIN only (following most European countries who have been this way for a while).

As always the US will lag behind but signatures haven't been relevant for quite a while. My CSP is chip and signature with no PIN functionality coming any time soon which is a shame.

Yes. As you stated, since there is diversity in the the way merchants handle this entire scenario (sign/don't sign), the relevency of a signature is in question. However, as Shogun pointed out, it's the agreement that we, the consumers sign by acceptance and use of the card, and the agreement between the card issuer and the merchant. And until this changes in some way, then to NOT sign is violating the T&C.

The truly effective way for the USA to NOT lag behind, is for consumers across the board, requesting...even demanding...that their card issuer go to an exclusive Chip and Pin system. The card issuers and banks can't say "it can't be done", when the rest of the world not only does it, but does it well. If we as consumers, start to contact our card issuers with requests for Chip & Pin, and we continue to do so on a consistent basis, my guess is that, one of the major players will take the ball and run with it, and start issuing Chip & Pin cards de riguer. My other guess would be that AMEX or Discover would be the likely candidates to lead the charge on this. A dream, I know!

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